MS readies Windows XP update

Just days after Microsoft delivered a release candidate preview for Windows Vista Service Pack 1 (SP1), it has quietly issued a similar milestone for Windows XP SP3 to about 15 000 testers, according to PC World.

The service pack, the last major update to the six-year-old operating system, is scheduled for release sometime in the first half of 2008. Microsoft has not been more specific than that six-month stretch, and even took the time to remind everyone that the half-year window is not a lock.

"We are targeting [the first half of] 2008 for the release of XP SP3 RTM [release to manufacturing], though our timing will always be based on customer feedback as a first priority," a company spokesperson said.

Social networking giant Facebook is being labelled the Grinch of the Internet, after it was revealed its new advertising system can easily spoil Christmas surprises, reports National Nine News.

A new feature on the Web site allows users to browse the online shopping history of people on their contact list, and with the holiday season fast approaching - secret Santas are finding it harder to stay in the shadows.

The advertising system was launched two weeks ago, and has already drawn strong criticism from privacy groups and users of the Web site.

The rapid spread of broadband means dial-up connections will have virtually vanished by the end of the decade, says The Independent.

Just 4% of residential Internet connections will rely on the original form of going online by 2010, says uSwitch.com, the price comparison site. Greater availability, lower prices and faster speeds have helped make broadband more popular.

The prediction follows Office for National Statistics figures last week, which showed 88.4% of UK Internet connections were broadband, compared to 86.2% the previous year.

Google increased its share of the US Internet search engine market in October, taking share away from rivals Yahoo and Microsoft, according to market researcher ComScore.

PC World reports that Google widened its lead over the competition by winning 58.5% of all US searches last month, up 1.5 percentage points over September.

Yahoo took second place, with 22.9% of the search market, down from 23.7%, while third ranked Microsoft dropped to 9.7%, from 10.3%.